Wow! This morning's thunder and lightning was a little too close for comfort for our Newschannel 8 reporters and photographers. One place you don't want to be during a storm is outside doing a live shot. The microwave vans broadcast with their masts sky high-- creating the ultimate lightning rod. Shortly before 7am during our Sunrise show the lightning sent both of our crews scrambling for safety. I just talked to the reporters involved so I could share the behind the scenes story with you.

First Erica Heartquist. She was in North Portland covering the weather related fire danger in the region. She says the morning started out windy and a little cool but nothing remarkable. All that changed about 6:55am as she was getting ready to do her final hit for our Sunrise Quickcast. She and her photographer noticed HUGE raindrops hitting the ground. It wasn't a downpour.. she says the drops were falling in a weirdly random pattern. Then-- all of a sudden--- lightning materialized right over their heads (and right over that mast!) Startled, Erica had just seconds to warn our producer that they were breaking down the live shot and heading for cover. The weather didn't keep them out of commission for long, though. Once the worst was over.. our photog was back out shooting video of the storm!

At almost the same time, Northwest Cable News reporter Teresa Yuan-- who was over in Northeast Portland--- saw a huge, white flash of lightning. Seconds before she was to begin her Quickcast report.. it became apparent the risk was too great to proceed. Her photog powered down.. and they stepped away from the live van because that lightning rod of a mast was still up. Teresa said the weather turned very suddenly. She said just as Dave Salesky started talking about that nasty system-- the storm hit her location with thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Crazy!

  When we lose live shots, the producer only has a few seconds to relay that information to us. As anchors, our job is to keep the show moving regardless of what else happens. As I recall-- the rundown had Dave leading the Quickcast followed by Erica and Teresa. We got word about 30 seconds before the Quickcast started that Erica was out. And while Dave was explaining the storm on Doppler.. we learned Teresa's shot had gone to black and she was out, too. I was shuffling papers and floating scripts left and right trying to keep up with the changes :-) At the end of the show we had extra time to fill so we talked about the lightning's impact on our coverage and our news crews!

Kudos to everyone in the field this morning. You're true professionals and grace under pressure. From now on, I think our meteorologists will have to share the "Storm Team" label with YOU!

               Brenda

1 Comments

Lane said:

Wonderful job, morning crew at KGW Newschannel 8. You really stand behind what you mean when you say, "Where the News Comes First". I will NOT watch any other news station in town, you cover everything that I need to know in the morning to start my day. Plus, when your reporters aren't in front of the camera, they're just as goofy as the rest of us, makes me feel right at home. Keep up the great work!

August 19, 2008 10:46 AM

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